Whatcha Sawin' 2020 ??

[GAB]

I think it was last Sunday I said something like, "I never make mistakes when nobody is looking."  Well I admit I was wrong..... >:( :D

If that is the worst mistake you make all year, you're going to have a great year.
GAB

[Kwill]

Finished sawing the siding and got my doors on the south side of my sawmill shed. No more blue tarps and south winds bothering.

 

[RichTired]

Kwill, That's a nice looking shed.  8)

[Magicman]

You gonna gutter the sides, front to back?

[WV Sawmiller]

   I needed some top plates and more rafters on my shed so I went up in the woodline where my last poplar log was staged (I had pulled it there till it got hung and I had cut a couple of shorter logs off already lightening the weight.) It was 21'8" I thought about cutting it in half then decided to go for broke and just saw it 21'. It was about 15" SED and pretty straight. I sawed 3 full length 2X12's, stopped and cut one of them into a 9'+ and a 10'+ to tie my shed together and staged one on top of the framing for an interim top plate on the wide end (it is trapezoid shape 22' on one end and 12' on the other to fit my lot). I went back just before dark to edge the rest and broke my band and quit for the day and will finish edging a couple more flitches tomorrow.  

One lesson I have learned is sawing full mill length/21' lumber is very meticulous. Both ends of the log have to be bucked perfectly square and every time you rotate the cant or go to edge a flitch you have to go stop and make sure both ends are between the factory marks (Pieces of black tape) or your blade won't enter or exit the cut. Also I have to raise the head higher when loading the log or rotating the cant or placing flitches for edging. I also have to raise the head higher at the rear to push the flitches on the loading arms to stage them for edging or the flitch will hit my blade guide adjustment arm.


 Full length - the hydraulic loading arms, turner and clamp never even groaned loading and turning it.

 Three very pretty 21' 2X12's. More than John can likely handle so I made 2 trips for them I'll finish edging the rest tomorrow as my light ran out today before I finished.

EDIT: I finished edging my 21' flitches this morning. I got 5 2X6s but 2 taper out to 19 & 17 ft respectively and one nice 21' 2X4. While I had them on the forks I went ahead and put the 2X6's on the roof of the shed where they will be used. 239 bf out of that log.


 

[Kwill]

Kwill, That's a nice looking shed.  8)

Thank you

[Kwill]

You gonna gutter the sides, front to back?

The back will have gutters

[richhiway]

You guys are killing it on the sheds. I will get mine started when the ground thaws out.

[ejb17]

Milled up about 300 bd ft of Red Elm yesterday. It was a beautiful February day and all the lumber is going to my sons school for his 8th grade class to build a large picnic table as a gift to the school.

 

 

[Jim_Rogers]

After taking some time off to let my neck/shoulder/arm straighten out with help of my chiropractor I've started cutting some red oak for planks.
Two weeks ago, I cut one white pine, and had to cut that 6x6 off into two pieces. Just about killed my shoulder with pain starting the chain saw.
Last week I added this to my tool box:



 

Today, I gave it a real test, I had to cut off the end of this 15" red oak log so I gave it a try.



 

It has plenty of power and only used one bar on the power scale on the battery:




 

I think I'm going to like this saw.

Jim Rogers

[donbj]

It has plenty of power and only used one bar on the power scale on the battery:

That's pretty good. What's the mah rating on the battery?

[Jim_Rogers]

It has plenty of power and only used one bar on the power scale on the battery:

That's pretty good. What's the mah rating on the battery?

Sorry, but I don't know what "mah" stands for.
Jim Rogers

[doc henderson]

mili amp hours or the storage capacity of the batt.  or amp hours.  could take a pic of the data info on the batt.

[Ljohnsaw]

It probably has a 4ah or 5ah on the side from the size of it.  Milwaukee makes some 6ah ones as well, I think.

[Jim_Rogers]

When you buy this tool, the saw comes without a battery or charger. You have to get them separately. So, you have a choice of what size battery you want. The clerk at the tool crib at Home Depot told me my options. I went for the highest capacity battery I could get.
Here is the label:


 

So what does that tell you?

Jim Rogers

[boonesyard]

You'll use it a lot. Great saw, we use ours all the time around the mill and yard. I had a 12 AH battery for one of my other tools and it works very well in the saw, good stuff.

[Ljohnsaw]

So what does that tell you?

A couple things.  First, that's a lot of battery!  My DeWalt's I have are 5's and they now have some 6's.  Second, you used up a 1/4 of the capacity on that log (2ah +/-), that's a bit of juice. 

From that other thread, you won't be going to the woods with that but around the mill, a great thing to have!  Assuming you have a "fast" charger similar to my DeWalt, charging that battery from empty probably takes 45 minutes to an hour.  Not too bad for the convenience.  My fishing buddy got a DeWalt chainsaw that I got to play with.  It works pretty well, too.  Since I'm on that platform already, I'll probably get one for myself.

That is just a single battery saw, correct?  So a 20v platform.  DeWalt also has their 60v platform that uses one special 60v battery that can be used in the 20v platform with triple the ah capacity (a 60v 4ah = 20v 12ah)

[boonesyard]

Take a look on youtube, there's a bunch of video on the battery chainsaws now. I know the Stihl battery saw is a good one too, they really like it. I've got a bunch of batteries for our Milwaukee tools (4's, 5's, 9's and a 12 AH) so that saw was the natural go to for us. I was very skeptical when we first got it, but it's been a real performer. 

[jeepcj779]

It shows 18V on the battery. Will 20V batteries work on a saw like that?

[donbj]

When you buy this tool, the saw comes without a battery or charger. You have to get them separately. So, you have a choice of what size battery you want. The clerk at the tool crib at Home Depot told me my options. I went for the highest capacity battery I could get.
Here is the label:


 

So what does that tell you?

Jim Rogers

Thanks for the info. That's a good battery and the saw will be handy around the mill. Good idea to have a spare bat so when it dies out when you need it you won't have to stop and wait on the charger.

[doc henderson]

so to round this out, your 8 amp hour battery will last longer than a 4 amp hour.  remember that volts x amps = watts.  so on the batt. you have a 8 amp/hour battery at 18 volts so 8 x 18 = 144 watt hr.  so in theory something that pulls 8 amps or 144 watts, at 18 volts should last 1 hour.  dewalt makes a conversion so the 20 volt batts can fit the old 18 volt tools.  I like the old batteries and they are still available but being phased out.  they are cheaper online such as amazon.  I have the old 18 v dewalt, but I got my wife stuff for in the house and it is a 20 v kit.  I think each brand would have to be checked for the application.  it is not amps per hour, but amp hour =Ah.  1 amp = 1,000 mili amps so you batt is also 8,000 mili amp hours.

[Ljohnsaw]

dewalt makes a conversion so the 20 volt batts can fit the old 18 volt tools

If you look at the fine print, the 20v batteries are 20v unloaded, 18 nominal.  It is the same battery as the 18v, just packaged different (IMO better).  The 20v is just a marketing gimmick to get you to upgrade.  A lot of the DeWalt 20v tools are coming out as brushless (not sure how that works on a DC motor) which should make them last longer and they seem to use less power to do the same job or better.  But, I digress...

Now, back to the original topic!

[doc henderson]

they had come out with an 18V "compact lithium ion"  battery, but instead of running down they would suddenly stop.  they did not seem to last as long, and mine are all shot now.  I will make the full switch someday.  

[Ianab]

they had come out with an 18V "compact lithium ion"  battery, but instead of running down they would suddenly stop.  they did not seem to last as long, and mine are all shot now.  I will make the full switch someday.  

Lithium batteries do NOT like to run 100% flat, quickest way to kill them. So any decent system will kill the power electronically at 10% remaining, and say "it's flat". So you have normal power, until suddenly you don't. 
Same as when there is a natural disaster, Tesla can give drivers ~10% more range via a software switch. They suggest you try your best not to use it as it's hard on the battery, but it beats being stuck on the side of the road with a hurricane bearing down on you, when another 10 miles would have got you to the fast charger. 

A lot of the DeWalt 20v tools are coming out as brushless (not sure how that works on a DC motor) 

Electronic magic. A regular DC motor has magnets in the case, and current runs through the windings of the armature, switched by the brushes as the motor rotates. 
A brushless motor spins the magnets by electronically switching the power to stationary coils. Because the current is controlled electronically it's easier to build in speed control, soft start, electric braking etc. And there are no brushes to wear out.  This sort motor has been used in computer hard disks for years, and they can sit there running 24/7 @ 10,000 rpm, for years, and it's usually the bearings that eventually give out. 

[Ljohnsaw]

Electronic magic.

Ahhhh,, very clever.  Makes perfect sense.  Also, one less wear item.  But they claim longer battery life.  Not sure how that works.  I think its just a "selling point".